"Go!"
Beruto roared and charged headlong toward the barn doors.
But before he could get close, the extinguished flames sprang back to life out of thin air. They blazed so fiercely that the two men were forced to retreat.
"No! The fuel in the wood is still evaporating. All it takes is one spark to set it alight again. We have to put out every open flame at once!"
Even the Golden Order was not all-powerful.
The Law of Regression could only halt a drastic change already in progress; it could not alter the nature of things.
Such as the fuel that was still evaporating, or the charred wood that would catch at the slightest spark.
"Then we'll take turns!"
The Law of Regression and Erdtree's Favor were both advanced incantations, and both consumed a terrifying amount of mental and physical strength.
But to save a life, Beruto could no longer worry about the cost. He immediately prayed to the Erdtree in his heart and assumed the stance to perform a second purification.
The flames at the barn entrance were extinguished again, but the next moment, the tenacious fire began gathering once more.
Fortunately, a second wave of golden light arrived in time, driving back the resurgent flames.
The two men seized the chance to rush to the barn entrance and get a clear look inside.
Besides storing grain, the barn also housed miscellaneous supplies and farm tools, and it was very large.
Now it was filled with thick smoke, making it impossible to see where Pao was.
"Whew! Why the hell do I have to risk my life with you, you little brat?" Gol was the same age as Mito, and both were old enough to be considered Beruto's elders.
But clearly, Beruto did not regard him as an old man at all. He did not even regard him as a person.
"We've both been blessed by the Divine Tree, so quit complaining you're tired! At worst, I'll have Pao take you as his god-grandfather, if we make it out alive!"
Gol was so angry he almost laughed. Who wanted another grandson?
But he soon had no time to complain. The power of the incantations could suppress the flames and heat, but it could not replenish the oxygen consumed by the fire.
On top of that, continuously casting incantations drained their physical strength. After only a few steps, their legs began to weaken and they were gasping for breath.
A trace of regret arose in both their hearts-had charging in like this been too reckless?
Outside the barn, the fire still raged wildly.
Although the first two barns held a great deal of fresh wheat that did not burn easily, they also contained hay used as padding and dry flax that had yet to be transported away.
On top of that, an accelerant that appeared to have been deliberately splashed around made the fire burn with particular ferocity.
Even with two elders using incantations to suppress the flames, the barns had already begun to show signs of collapse.
The people outside could do nothing against the blaze. They could only pass buckets of water in vain and hurry as fast as they could to save the grain.
Apart from the flashes of golden light, which came at increasingly long intervals and proved that the two elders were still alive, everything seemed to be taking a turn for the worse.
At that desperate moment, a figure flashed into the fire, moving faster than an ordinary eye could follow.
Nausicaä had finally arrived.
Before anyone could get a clear look, the red-haired girl in a blue robe, her feet bare, charged into the flames without hesitation!
"Your Highness, be careful-!"
As everyone watched and cried out in alarm, Nausicaä plunged straight into the roaring fire. It looked as though the heat would burn her flesh to a crisp.
Then something incredible happened.
Those closer to the fire saw that the flames themselves had not changed. The scorching heat still kept anyone from approaching.
The edges of Nausicaä's clothes were indeed curling and blackening at a visible rate.
But when the flames licked Nausicaä's body, it was as though they had lost their heat. They failed to ignite even a single strand of hair.
The next instant, she rushed into the barn, her figure vanishing amid the flames.
As everyone stared in disbelief, wondering whether that had really been Nausicaä, the girl's clear shout rang out from the fire.
"Golden Order-Law of Regression!"
A golden wave far more powerful than those of the two elders spread outward. Wherever it reached, the flames vanished without a trace.
The golden light did not stop there, but continued to spread outward.
Only when it had encompassed the third barn, which had just caught fire, and snuffed out every source of flame did the light slowly fade.
The flames that had raged so fiercely, threatening to devour everything, were utterly wiped out before the power of the Golden Order.
In a mere instant, all that remained at the scene were the charred, blackened frames of the barns and the remnants of the grain piles.
Even the smoke and the crackling of wood that should have continued were wiped away.
Silence fell over the scene, as though a videotape had been "cut off."
With the flames gone, Nausicaä, Gol and Beruto appeared in everyone's sight once more.
"Your Highness!"
"Princess!"
"Are you all right?"
Only then did the people of the Valley recover from the miraculous sight, and they all rushed forward to help.
But the dreadful sight before them soon brought the crowd to a halt.
The barefoot girl in blue stood at the very back of the barn ruins, facing a figure leaning against a remaining pillar.
Or rather, a horribly charred body.
"Pao!"
At the sight of the figure missing an arm, Beruto could not help rushing forward with a heart-wrenching cry.
Pao was a strong, sturdy young man who had nevertheless lost an arm to illness.
Though he was always complaining about being tired, he actually worked the hardest at carrying things and was Beruto's favorite apprentice.
Beruto had never married and had devoted most of his life to the land. He regarded each of his apprentices as a son or daughter.
And Pao, a poor child who had lost his family when he was young, regarded Beruto, who had raised him, as his only family.
Beruto bent down and pressed a hand to Pao, trying to cast Erdtree's Favor.
He remembered that the Erdtree had said this incantation could not only ripen grain, but also heal injuries.
Yet the golden light had only just begun to shine when the world spun around him, and he collapsed to the ground.
Casting the Law of Regression over a wide area several times in succession had completely exhausted his body. Even standing had taken all he had.
Yet even as he was about to pass out, Beruto, who could barely form a complete sentence, forced the words out through clenched teeth.
"Your Highness... please... save him... I'm begging you!"
Beruto could feel that his "child" still had one last trace of life in him.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he could hold on no longer and lost consciousness completely.
"Don't worry, Uncle Beruto. I will."
The princess's voice was calm and even, without the slightest hint of emotion.
But Gol, who was also one of the Blessed and possessed greater mental strength than an ordinary person, and Yupa, who had just arrived and possessed perception beyond that of ordinary people, both knew that this was merely the calm before the storm.
A pressure on the mental plane was gradually spreading from Nausicaä.
Both men within its range felt a stabbing pain in their souls.
It was her anger, incomparably fierce, anger made tangible.